Back to School with Island Batik

Hurray!  It's finally my day for the Island Batik Back to School Blog hop!  I really do love this time of year, I think one of the main reasons is that it means that fall is just around the corner.  Even here on the Oregon coast where the seasons aren't quite as dramatic as other places I look forward to the leaves turning color, the nights getting cooler and the fact that it's a great time for quilting (of course - because the kids are back to school!).

The line I got to work with is Abalone.  It's a beautiful beach themed line with loads of gorgeous color and fun prints.  There are Stars, Sand Dollars and even Lobster prints.  I really had fun playing with this set of prints, and was super happy that I had enough of the lovely pink-orange print (Carnation) for the background.  Setting the other prints against it made me think of a lovely fall sunset at the beach, so I call this quilt Sunset Glow.

Aren't the colors amazing?  Here are all the fabrics laid out before I washed them - so yummy!

My quilt features two different blocks in an alternating setting.  One block features the Butterfly Unit from last month's Quilter's Recipe Box.  This was my original plan, but I ended up switching the blue swirl fabric for another fabric from Island Batik's Basic collection - Pool.

For the second block I used a big triangle to show off the anchor print.  I also changed this block, moving the purple print to the inside of the block instead of the outside.  

I finished the top back in July because I knew that August was going to be a little bit busy, but I had no idea how crazy it was going to end up!  Luckily, that still left me with time to get it quilted, even with the extended trip we ended up taking at the beginning of September.  I was able to get a wonderful match to the Carnation fabric from Aurifil (2420 in 50 wt), so had fun doing some over the top quilting on the background.  I used 1248 for the dark colors, then for the border 5009 was the perfect shade!

I used some ideas from Angela Walters Book "Shape by Shape Collection 2"  Lots of really great ideas in this book!

The border quilting features a ferny looking vine pattern, but I used a thread that blended in so you don't really see it much.  I wanted to let those lobsters shine on their own :)

The inner border is another fabric from the basics collection:  Bluebird.  I am really delighted with how this quilt came out - it really is quite stunning, don't you thing?  It even looks lovely against a gray and gloomy sky - we are thankful for some rain at last, but I did hope for some sun for a picture.

And what would a blog hop be without a giveaway?  Island Batik is having a big giveaway, and if you love the Abalone collection as much as I do, you need to enter because they are giving away a bundle of this as well as two other collections!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

In addition I will be giving away two Stash Builder Rolls myself!  These are a favorite of all the Island Batik Ambassadors - four strips 5 inches by the width of fabric.  That comes out to 20 inches of fabric in each roll - plenty for a variety of projects!  You can enter my personal giveaway below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I thought this fabric was so much fun that I wanted to make another project from it as well.  I used my Pacifica Tote pattern to make a large tote for my daughter:

Don't those lobsters make a great bag?  I added a pocket using a piece from the newest box.  If you like this pattern, you can purchase and download it from my Etsy shop:

Download Pattern Here!

Here is the schedule for the rest of the hop - make sure you check out the other blog posts and collections - lots of giveaways and great projects, you will enjoy every stop!

Island Batik Back to School Blog Hop

Monday,​ ​September​ ​4​ ​- Beaujolais – Quilting Affection, Fun Threads
Tuesday,​ ​September​ ​5​ – Country Dozen – Cheryl Lynch Quilts, Inspired Layers
Wednesday,​ ​September​ ​6​ ​- Bonsai – Little Bunny Quilts
Thursday,​ ​September​ ​7​ – Sakura – Masterpiece Quilting
Friday,​ ​September​ ​8​ – Empress Garden – Desert Bloom Quilting, Slice of Pi Quilts

Monday,​ ​September​ ​11​ ​- Fresh Pick’ins – Kissed Quilts
Tuesday,​ ​September​ ​12​ – Lotus Blooms – Kathy Bruckman
Wednesday,​ ​September​ ​13​ – Olivera – Moose Stash Quilting, Knit Bug 2
Thursday,​ ​September​ ​14​ – Rise & Shine – Den syende himmel, Sally’s Quilting Corner
Friday,​ ​September​ ​15​ ​- Diner Days – Ark Angel Creations, The Quilt Rambler

Monday,​ ​September​ ​18​ – Seas the Day – Needle & Foot, Kissed Quilts
Tuesday,​ ​September​ ​19​ – Vineyard – Inquiring Quilter, Inchworm Fabrics
Wednesday,​ ​September​ ​20​ – Abalone – Pamela Quilts, Yellow Cat Quilt Designs
Thursday,​ ​September​ ​21​ – Batiks Go Retro – Webster Quilt
Friday,​ ​September​ ​22​ – Captain’s Anchor – Purrfect Spots, Bea Quilter

Monday,​ ​September​ ​25​ – Cherry Berry – Free Motion By the River, MaryMack’s Blog
Tuesday,​ ​September​ ​26​ – Lobster Bake – Seams To Be Sew
Wednesday,​ ​September​ ​27​ – Solstice – Bejeweled Quilts, heARTS Creations
Thursday,​ ​September​ ​28​ – Sour Apple – Seams Like A Dream, Kauffman Designs
Friday,​ ​September​ ​29​ ​- Zen – Lizard Creek Quilting, Quilt’n Party

Thanks for joining us!